Durbin urges 'national conversation' on gun laws

12/16/12 9:42 AM EST

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Sunday that the Newtown, Conn., shooting should prompt a national conversation about gun control and the types of guns that are legal for purchase.

"We need to sit down and have a quiet, calm reflection on the Second Amendment ... and are there guns that really shouldn't be sold all across America," the Illinois Democrat said on "Fox News Sunday." "We need a national conversation. Joe Lieberman called for a commission -- I'm open to this, but we need a national commission on safety," he said.

Durbin added that there's "plenty of blame on both sides politically," and that the only way to truly reform gun laws is to include regular citizens in the conversation.

He said some types of guns, including the one that was used to kill 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday, should not be readily sold.

"Are there high ammunition clips that really have no value whatsoever when it comes to sporting, hunting and even self defense? That a person can buy body armor and can take that armor and use it to protect themselves while they kill innocent people," he said. "Why in the world would anyone, even Nancy Lanza, need a military assault weapon, designed for the military, with the ability to fire off hundreds of rounds?

"I'm all for sport and hunting and self defense" Durbin added. "This goes way beyond that."